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Your Mac Life After OS X 10.12 ‘Bakersfield’

Friday, February 26, 2016

Do you remember standing in line in front of an Apple Store to plunk down $129 for the latest version of OS X? Times have changed, folks. Apple has declared itself a hardware company, and most of the Mac and iPhone maker’s software is free, including OS X and a dozen or so user apps which make up a Mac user’s life.

What’s next in OS X?

That’s the problem. Every version of OS X must contain a list of sizzle features to attract users to upgrade to the new version of the steak. What we’ve seen in recent OS X versions is better integration with iPhone and iPad, and OS X El Capitan was supposed to be the bug fix version with fewer massive changes that disrupted the entire ecosystem, yet El Capitan brought some of its own bugs, so here we are again, waiting for a new release of OS X to make it work as promised, all the while knowing that in a few months Apple will introduce yet another new version of OS X, OS X 10.12 (which I cleverly dubbed OS X ‘Bakersfield’ knowing that Apple will come up with something else).

Big Sur? Hollywood? Death Valley?

Some Apple watchers opine that the company may be running out of features for the Mac. Humans are creative creatures so I don’t expect new features to ever become a problem, but features that are useful and can find their way into our daily workflow would be better than eye candy.

Word on the streets says Siri will come to the Mac in OS X 10.12. Great. Siri is long overdue to become a useful part of the Apple ecosphere, including iPhone and iPad, where day-to-day usage is nominal at best. What would Siri do on the Mac other than annoy family and co-workers?

Siri has already been around awhile and Apple has had plenty of time to get her (him?) into the Mac. Yet, here we are already into 2016 and Microsoft has had Siri’s cousin, Cortana, running on Windows 10 for what, a year already?

Let’s assume that OS X will remain free to Mac users forever. Apple is wise to ensure that OS X runs on as many Macs as possible. That helps to keep money flowing through the Mac App Store, and it ensures the Mac remains a more hospitable, secure, and inviting platform for the masses which have yet to make the leap from good enough Windows.

Hey, Apple. How about more polish and a little shine, and fewer tentpoles?

For example, I like the Finder in OS X El Capitan, but it could be more user configurable. Why not have a Basic setting and an Advanced setting for Mac users who actually know what they’re doing. Newbies and average Mac folk get what they need with Basic, more experienced users get more with Advance functionality. Oh, and while you’re at it, Apple, build in Basic and Advance for Mac apps, too.

One more thing. Please fix Mail.

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